New York. So it was a final farewell we attended in Toronto the weekend before last…
The heart is breaking again.
But at the same time, Porgy feels more valuable and beautiful until he sees, hears, and experiences how incredibly loved he is one last time.
It was an idea I didn’t even want to think about during those 24 hours in Toronto when Borgie Salming was celebrated by his old fans two consecutive unforgettable nights I turned him – and everyone else – off.
But in the back of my mind was the insight:
This is his last visit, he is here to say goodbye to the cosmopolitan Canadian city where, over sixteen glorious seasons, he has become one of its greatest icons.
And less than two weeks later, he was gone – the lion from Kiruna, the pioneer who, with his brilliance, courage and indomitable determination, opened the best hockey league in the world to European players.
It’s hard to take in, it feels unreal. He recently stood on the ice at Scotiabank Arena, once again getting a standing ovation that never wanted to end, like the one before the 1976 Canada Cup games.
We saw what the terrible disease had done to him, how badly it tortured him – and we knew, mercilessly, that there is only one ending for a person with ALS. Until now. It will happen incredibly fast…
It’s a relief to know that this kind, gentle, sweet gentleman doesn’t need to suffer any more — and a relief to rethink the tribute ceremonies in Toronto.
They felt incredibly important and influential even then, but with that sad conclusion in hand, they seem even more valuable – just like the impressive tribute that followed a few days later at the Swedish Hockey Association’s 100-year gala at the Avicii Arena. Porgy Salming left earthly life with a heart full of knowledge of how much the world loved him.
The end, if it must come, couldn’t be nicer.
If I could conclude a little more personally… there are many who were closer to Börje than I was, who are going through a much harder time right now, and my heart is bleeding for them. But he was, I still want to be able to say, my first and greatest idol; I played as a kid in the mid 70’s I was Börje Salming during an endless number of field hockey games and when I met him many decades later, in Toronto, I was completely speechless. Heart palpitations in the chest. He was, as they say here, “larger than life” and I couldn’t quite believe he was standing in front of me talking, laughing, and acting like everyone else.
So this does not seem like just the loss of the legendary, wonderful athlete and celebrity. It feels like a part of life has been lost.
Goodbye, purée salming.
We never forget you.
